Firelight
by jaggedjacket
Summary: Kiba takes care of Tenten after an injury leaves her speecheless. Now against the firelight, he can't deny the feelings he has always had for her. KibaXTenten Me no own.
1. Chapter 1

Kiba sipped on his tea as he eyed the kunoichi nestled against his nin dog. The glow of the fire etched her face with honey hues as it flickered against the stone hearth. She slept peacefully, and had for the last day and a half. He checked on her often, changed the bandage on her neck regularly and kept her arm splint and propped up. He looked to make sure her fingers didn't turn blue and were warm, monitored her breathing, and generally kept her as comfortable as possible. Akamaru had refused to leave her side, settling to be her pillow/mattress since they arrived, only going outside to do his business and eat when Kiba was changing her bandages.

Kiba was worried.

He hadn't spent any time with her at all since _that day_. There had been the chunin exams and brief moments with friends, but nothing as intimate as what had happened what seemed now a lifetime ago.

He blamed Akamaru, naturally, as it was all his fault.

He was in his last year at the academy, he remembered, Akamaru still lazily rode along on top of his head or in the pockets of his jacket. Hana had brought Tenten over, a recommendation from her boyfriend, Iruka, that she had the best aim he had ever seen with any weapon.

She was to help the Haimaru brother train, throwing projectiles at them while Hana gave the orders to doge. Eventually Kiba came out and watched the session. Tenten threw her weapons with an adroit hand, each flick of her slender wrist mesmerized him. He had sat on the sidelines for what seemed like an eternity, mouth agape as his dark eyes watched her throw her weapons with consummate skill. Eventually they called for a break as the dogs had started to get sloppy with each step, and a shuriken was certain to tear devastating through one of them if they did not rehydrate and take a short rest. Hana took up a spot by Kiba with her ninken as they lapped up water in a large bin and panted loudly.

That was when Kiba stupidly asked if he and Akamaru could take a turn. The puffy little dog yipped excitedly that he, indeed, would like nothing more than to prove that he too could obey his master's orders. Kiba was nothing but supportive, ruffling the dog's fur on the top of his head with beaming pride as he stood beside Tenten and smirked with confidence. Arms over his chest he easily barked his commands, and Akamaru cheerfully obeyed and dodged each onslaught with delight. He had elbowed Tenten with satisfaction, nodding to his pup with pride that Akamaru was _his_ dog. His _smart_ dog.

Tenten smiled back and blushed at the sudden brush against her. Kiba let out a toothy grin, and noticed with satisfaction that her shirt and her cheeks resembled one another. It was then he really looked at her. The slender figure of a distinct feminine form was the first thing he noticed. Then their eyes connected and Kiba could only describe from his limited vocabulary that something magical happened. He knew most of his friends still believed that girls still had cooties. Call him more mature, at least in this area, than them. He knew from early on that Inuzuka's tended to be more monogamous than other clans, having a proclivity to stay unmarried even after a spouse died because the bonds that tied them were strong, even after death. He knew his mother would kill him if he even thought about fancying a girl at this stage of life. He was too young, it was too early to consider it, and he shouldn't have been able to find someone so quickly. Not just someone, Kiba searched those golden brown eyes with awe. She was it. The logical part of Kiba's brain was telling him that it was just because she was a girl that was flirting with him, that had him thinking so linearly. Then again he was used to girls his age at the academy, and not one of them seemed to remotely hold or captivate him like her.

His mother was going to kill him if she knew he had found her already.

Then Kiba reverted his attention back to Akamaru, and his demeanor had changed.

He could only describe what he saw in his dog's eyes at that moment as impish, though at the time he didn't think much of it. He dismissed it as his dog being pleased with his praise, glad that he was making his master happy and proud of himself for doing so well in training. Nothing more.

How very wrong Kiba had been.

The next time Tenten through a weapon, Akamaru hesitated. It wasn't just that he hesitated; it was that he hesitated _on purpose_. The shuriken had nicked his shoulder, letting blood ooze out against his white fur in bleak contrast. Kiba had never been so scared and angry at his dog in his life. Hana, Tenten and Kiba all rushed to him, Kiba scooping him up and yelling fiercely exactly _how_ stupid he thought his dog to be. He never once blamed Tenten, but that, somehow, he realized later, didn't stop her from blaming herself over the incident.

Really it had only been a few stitches with some chakra, and a ruined shirt and bed rest for a while. Hana had healed him nearly good as new with in minutes of entering the clinic. Tenten had become part of the background as Akamaru whined and Kiba held him steady as Hana worked her healing chakra over the torn flesh.

They never saw each other after that. It was because there was a moment, he realized as he nostalgically pulled the clear memory from his brain as he currently watched the kunoichi on his dog breathe steadily.

That day she had rushed over with him, at his side a split second before Hana, Kiba had scooped up the dog in his arms. When he looked up, he was so close to Tenten he could see the look of worry and fear on her face. Her whiskey colored eyes unwavering as she reached for his dog. Akamaru licked her hand right before Hana pulled him away and they headed to the office to fix him up. He could see the helplessness there in the glassy pools, how very sorry she felt in that moment. He hadn't really thought of that moment much before now. Now he understood that she never wanted to see Kiba or Akamaru hurt like that again.

That had been years ago. He hadn't seen her one-on-one since he found her dying in the forest yesterday.

He nearly panicked when he received his orders to go after the team who had unwittingly gone out after an enemy they wouldn't be able to defeat alone. Missing reports had been found and his team had been deployed with in hours after them to find the three member of Team Gai. Shino had gone after Lee, and Hinata had gone after her cousin, and Kiba had been all too eager to find Tenten. The enemy was too strong for a three member team from the new information, and they were to fall back until further notice. Visions of her laying face down in a puddle of mud bleeding to death crossed his mind.

He just didn't _actually_ think that was how he was going to find her.

Her neck had been ripped open, and if it weren't for the thick clay silt she slathered onto her neck to staunch the bleeding she would have bled out with in minutes. He shoved two blood pills down her throat and cleaned the wound before attempting to heal it. Hana had taught him well, but there were too many vital points he could permanently screw up in her neck to do much more than stop the bleeding and patch up the serious lacerations. He would need Hinata to finish the job of repairing her vocal cords and muscles and veins with out scarring her.

For now she was resting on his dog, in a cottage, on the outskirts of the pastoral town. Kiba had brought her to the nearest building he could find with in reason. He screamed as she lay limp in his arms as he carried her to a farm. The old man had been nice enough to let them stay, even grateful that he had someone there to tend to the animals and look after the stead after he left to get supplies from the next town.

Kiba woke in the early hours of the morning feeding the animals and mucking out stalls to bide his time until she awoke. Akamaru remained ever vigilant by her side, promising with deep brown eyes to alert him if something changed.

Now he looked at her with her bandaged throat and silently prayed that she would come to and that the damage hadn't been as extensive as he initially thought. Those twin buns of hers were mocking him again, still wound up tightly like always, only fraying slightly under the strain of the last day and a half of much needed rest.

Then there was last night.

Akamaru was his dog. His nin dog that only ever slept with him. Ever.

He had gone on a number of missions with his team. Not once ever did Akamaru curl up and offer himself as a pillow for Hinata, even when she was sick or wounded. Akamaru would stay watch outside a tent for a while, but always, he would return to his master and become Kiba's pillow for the rest of the evening if they weren't on watch.

"Traitor," he muttered to the furry beast that Tenten nuzzled into. Akamaru lifted his big white head to show that he had heard but didn't care. He licked at the bandages on her neck to signal him that they needed to be changed again.

"I know, buddy," he stated as he resigned himself to get fresh bandages from his pack and placed himself in front of the two, ready to get on with his chore.

He picked her up in his arms, a task that he was all too willing to do, and, like every time before, he just stared at her for a few minutes before gently peeling away the tape and replacing them with new ones.

This time, he didn't put her immediately back on top of his companion. He studied the elegant curve of her neck that he had so tenderly administered to, he noted the olive tint to her skin as it glowed against the light of the fire, dragged a careful finger over a tiny thin scar by her bottom lip, and held her close so that all he could smell was her.

Akamaru had waited patiently while he tenderly brushed her bangs out of her eyes, and he soon became lost in her beauty until his dog nudged his elbow signaling the late hour and his own need for sleep.

He was going to do it again, and he wasn't sure if he was torturing or fooling himself as to why.

He curled himself up beside the two, grabbing Tenten again by the middle and pulling her close. He nuzzled into her hair, the scent plugging up his nose with the intoxicating smell that helped lull him into a drugged stupor. She was warm and soft and if anyone asked why he was only holding her, he would respond that it was so that she wouldn't roll over and reinjure her arm. That was the story he was going to go with anyways.

The warm glow of the fire, his dog, his woman. He felt complete.

Wait.

She wasn't his _anything_, technically.

Suddenly, her breathing alerted him to the fact that she was now awake. She remained perfectly still, no doubt trying to analyze the situation and her surroundings until she could reasonably take any action. He needed to do some damage control.

"Tenten, it's me, Inuzuka Kiba," he whispered into her ear. "You are suffering from some injuries; I am sleeping beside you so you can't hurt your arm. You have extensive damage done to your throat. Don't try to talk just yet, I don't know if that would cause more damage to your vocal chords." She nodded at his words and relaxed against him once again, hesitantly, as if taking it all in, then she slowly got up into a sitting position.

He once again was floored by the depth she carried in her sable eyes. She touched her arm with her good hand, then ran it over the length of her swan-like neck to evaluate further the damage done. Then he realized that she had gotten up too quickly, and caught her right before she swooned over and fainted.

"Whoah, easy now. You are still weak. Lay back down, I will get you some tea. Do you think you could eat something?"

Her head nodded as she closed her eyes and rested it back on Akamaru, his tail swishing back and forth with excitement that she had finally awoke. Kiba bustled around the kitchen, constantly letting his attention be redirected back to the girl petting his dog. She needled her fingers into the thick tresses of his fur and Akamaru nudged a nose to her shoulder in approval. She smiled back, eyes still closed, and the great white beast looked happier about drawing out a smile from her than he ought. Kiba watched his dog hold his head high, tongue lolling to the side as he panted and preened. Akamaru was radiating happiness that she had regained consciousness. Kiba had to admit he was relieved, too.

He grabbed a pad of paper and a pen off the counter and added it to the tray of soup and tea and sat down beside them.

She was still too weak to sit up on her own and Kiba instinctively sat behind her to support her, and she relaxed into him fully while she sipped on her tea missively.

Kiba had to control the overwhelming feelings washing over him. She felt so right in his arms it hurt to think that this wouldn't last. Her head fell perfectly on the crook of his neck, the only thing that prevented his helping more was the simple fact that her hair was in the way. He had to doge around it and shift his body to avoid it attacking his face, but she soon caught on that it had become a hindrance, and he watched with eager anticipation as a steady hand came up to unravel each bun.

Kiba had been waiting for this moment it seemed, for all his life. She slowly unwound her hair from its constrictions, like an elegant dance with her ribbons of hair and the soft tender underside of her wrists. She flicked each hand with a fluid motion, straightening the kinks as she combed quickly through her hair enough so that it would lie down flat against his chest and she could settle back against him without bothering him with the added distraction.

Only she _was_ the distraction, and his hungry eyes fell over the cascade of mahogany locks that flowed down his chest between them, heaping on large amounts of curiosity as he tried his level best not to make her turn around so he could see her properly with her hair down in all her glory.

He took a shaky breath to regain some composure and resigned himself to just enjoy the moments he had with her like this. He may not have tomorrow, but he certainly wouldn't wallow in self pity while he had the opportunity of her company in the now.

She leaned forward to the tray and scribbled a quick word on the pad.

_Team?_

"We were deployed out to find you, my team, a few hours after you left. Since your team split up, we did too. Shino is tracking down Lee. Hinata went after Neji. We should hear back from them soon." He squeezed her upper arm in an attempt to comfort her. She nodded and finished her liquids in contemplative silence. When Kiba took the tray away, he wasn't sure if he should lay back behind her now that she was conscious. Akamaru cocked his head to the side as if to ask what he was waiting for.

Tenten had apparently noticed his hesitation and turned to face him and brought her head up from the great white beastly pillow that was his ninken.

Then she did something that made his heart skip a beat and flood him with hope. She patted the dog's fur beside, beckoning him to come sleep by her side again.

Kiba nearly skipped over, diving in under the covers and smells of him, his dog, and his girl.

His hands instinctively clutched her waist again and he snuggled up close getting a fuller scent of her hair, He growled low, a sort of purr that emanated from deep within as he sighed with contentment. Damn, this felt right.

She snaked her hand under his head and threaded fingers along the nape of his neck hair and gently tugging along his scalp, pulling him closer.

Yep, he had officially died and gone to heaven. She was petting his head, just like his dog, needling her fingers in and out of his hair. The effect was relaxing as hell.

Her fingers settled along the shell of his ear, ghosting over the fine hairs that settled there. It didn't take long for Inuzuka Kiba to fall fast into a deep slumber.

A/N: Can't tell if this needs another chapter for closure. Feel free to voice your opinons as I have no one to bounce this off of before posting. Gracias!

JaggedJacket


	2. Chapter 2

Early morning came as it had the day before, but instead of Kiba worrying like he had about her health, he snuggled closer to the scent that haunted his dreams as he bridged the places of ethereal visions and reality. Although the wonderful sensations around him tempted him to stay put, he needed to check her over and change the bandages.

Not to mention take a cold shower.

Begrudgingly, he peeled himself away to find his pack where he kept his first aid kit.

It was still quite early, the shinobi in him programmed him to wake up at ungodly hours instead of snuggling with someone that was obviously a better alternative to a frigid shower spray.

The tapping on the window was just barely audible over the zipping of his pack. Shino had sent a summon, a far cry better from the tiny kakkai he would send in swarms to try to write words in the air for him to try and decipher as they jumped around and misspelled words. He preferred Shino's large black beetle with iridescent eyes that was big enough to tie a proper note around one of his sticky legs. There was no guessing game with him, or shouting at bugs that only knew how to repeat a broken phrase with frantic buzzing as he moved about to find the right angle to read it.

He affectionately stroked the outer shell of the insect and it seemed to give a nod of approval as he untied the small brown note from its leg.

He bared a canine to break the red string that bound it together, snapping the string and unfurling the letter with renewed apprehension of his team.

Shino had found Lee, who seemed to have missed the brunt of all the excitement. Neji, on the other hand, found himself almost as bad as Tenten, wounded and left for dead in the middle of the forest. He would have been lost if it weren't for the healing efforts of his cousin just in the nick of time. Shino, Lee and Neji would be leaving for home together, and they sent Hinata to find Kiba in case Tenten had met the same ill fate Neji had succumbed to.

If he knew his team well, and he did, Hinata would make it a point to try to keep pace with the beetle, pushing herself so that Shino wouldn't feel the need to send a summons in the first place and might trust her enough to deliver the message in person next time. Kiba knew the purpose of the summons was two-fold. Shino knew that Hinata would push herself farther, helping her with her own personal growth and training. Then if anything happened to her, Kiba would know to be on the look out for her, as he was expecting her arrival because of the summons.

With the threat of whomever it was lurking somewhere in the unknown, apprehension rose inside Kiba's chest as he searched the windows outside for a sign of her approach.

He needed his dog to search the periphery of the property line, just beyond the edges of the trees.

Then a thought popped into his head as he watched Tenten slip into the bathroom to wash up. He would instead send Akamaru with her incase she fell in the shower or became too dizzy to stand and needed assistance. But right now, he needed to ask his dog an important question.

Now that he knew she was out of ear shot, he had to ask. "Why didn't you doge the shuriken the day we met her?" Akamaru sat motionless for a while before nearly whining. The soft edges of his ninken's fur were met with fuzzy delineations that overlapped in long white and black hairs that intersected one another giving the appearance of grey fur in the firelight. Everything seemed to be a blur of grey matter, twisting and sticking to one another until the only thing left to explain about what he could reasonably perceive was that everything was complicated and nothing made sense anymore.

He eyed the bathroom door and listened for any signs that she was struggling as he queried his dog.

"Tell me, hurry, I want you in there with her in case she needs your help," he persisted as his dog's head turned to the light beneath the bathroom door, wanting nothing more than to ignore his master's request for a conversation and assist the weapon's mistress.

"Tell me why you chose to get hit!" he nearly shouted his whisper as the dull roar of a shower starting echoed in the hallway.

Now communication with his dog had always been a little sketchy. It wasn't like he actually talked out right per se. It was what you would consider a telepathic link, sort of. Kiba always imagined it was something along the lines of however twins communicated in their head to each other combined with a knowledge of general dog signs. It was kind of like the same signs that are universal for humans: scratching your chin means your are thinking, hands away from the body waving palms down slowly meant to calm down, ect. Kiba and Akamaru worked as one, so their communication was vitally important to not only missions, but to every day tasks.

Akamaru was just being difficult at the moment.

It was clear that Akamaru cared for her, possibly beyond the realm of reasonable and appropriate given how much time he had actually spent with her. Kiba wasn't stupid, he could read that sign clearly enough.

Akamaru finally answered him.

_Because I wanted her to stay._

Kiba nearly snarled at him, "She left after that!"

Akamaru hung his head in shame, letting out a pathetic whine.

_I know master, I am sorry_.

"It's not your fault." He petted the large dog on his head, showing there were no hard feelings.

_She is here now. We must keep her so she does not leave again_.

"She doesn't belong to us, boy. She isn't property. She will have to decide if she wants to keep us or not."

Akamaru seemed pleased with the answer, even if it wasn't exactly what he himself wanted to hear.

"Now go in there and make sure she doesn't drown in the shower," he ordered to his dog.

Akamaru turned to obey, happy to return to the weapon's mistress once again.

A parameter check was in order, with or without Akamaru, and Kiba decided to get started on it right away before feeding the animals. Kiba took a deep breath and smiled.

Hinata was finally here.

When she landed in front of him, trying to act as if she didn't just bust her ass to make it there with the arrival of Shino's summon, Kiba greeted her with a bone-crushing hug.

After a brief discussion about their team and damages done, Kiba ushered her inside to inspect Tenten's neck.

Akamaru's panicked barking hit them both as they crossed the threshold into the house, shooting Kiba up with fear and adrenaline.

She was slumped over on top of Akamaru, who no doubt cushioned her fall as she collapsed. Hinata and Kiba laid her flat on the floor so that Hinata could better take a look at her neck and heal it properly.

"Just need to fix a few veins in her neck and she won't pass out from lack of flow to her brain," Hinata reassured her with a smile, which meant that the worry and fear that he was feeling was written all over his face. He watched the blue flame ease her suffering and rouse her awake and he could significantly feel the churning feeling in his stomach subside.

That had been too close.

Upon opening her eyes, she grabbed hold of Hinata and clung to her, thanking her silently for healing her.

"Can she talk now?" Kiba interrupted, "will she be okay?"

Hinata and Tenten separated, a look of admiration and gratitude on Tenten's face that made Hinata smile back with just as much genuine affection. Kiba knew the two were like sisters, he just hadn't ever seen the two interact with each other before.

"She should rest her voice until we get back to Konoha, Sakura should check her over before she gets the okay to talk."

Relieved, Kiba slumped against the wall.

"We need to get back to Konoha as soon as possible however," Hinata explained, "Tenten, do you think you will be up for the journey?" Hinata asked quietly.

Kiba pushed himself off of the wall and quickly piped in, "I don't think that is a good idea, Hinata, she needs time to recover. I think we should give her some time to rest, _then_ head back."

He was completely ignored as Hinata asked Tenten again if she thought she could make it home if they left right away. Tenten winked and nodded to her, then winked at Kiba too, as if that were to somehow staunch his fear and concerns about her over the next few hours. He couldn't help but feel that her wink had more to do with just letting him know that she was okay. He swallowed and nodded, even though the whole situation didn't sit well with him.

Hinata briefed Tenten of her team's status as Kiba double checked the supplies and gear before heading out. All the while he packed he kept one eye on her, wondering just what would happen once she could talk when they got back.

Perhaps everything would go back to the way that it had been before, and his only memories would be that of her in the firelight.

His heart clenched inside his chest at the thought.

Hinata took lead formation as Akamaru and Kiba headed up the rear. Since Tenten was most vulnerable, his teammate agreed that she needed to be in the middle to keep her protected.

Konoha gates finally came into view, and Kiba offered to escort Tenten to the hospital after their briefing with the Hokage. They walked silently to the hospital, Kiba all the while wondering what would become of them once she could say what was on her mind. Would they continue to avoid each other? Or would he finally be man enough to tell her exactly what his heart had ached for all these years?

Somehow he was already explaining things to the nurse and Sakura was checking her over before his brain had enough time to think it over properly.

Sakura had her hop up on the table and open her mouth as she shined a light down her throat. She ran a hand over her neck, inspecting everything with a chakra probed hand.

"Recite _Starting Afresh_ from the Fire Scroll of _The Book of Five Rings_," she stated as she pocketed her flashlight. Tenten only blinked at her, momentarily stunned. "Don't look at me like you don't already have that whole book memorized," she quietly chastised. Tenten very formally recited the pericope, and Kiba couldn't help but wonder if Sakura picked it out on purpose, or if it just seemed to apply to his life at the moment in a very uncanny way. Starting over. Starting new. He wanted that.

Tenten's voice was a relief to hear, like something wonderful that had been missing had just been restored. He loved the sound of her voice, even though it probably didn't sound like anything remarkable to anyone else. It soothed _him_, however somehow. It was proof that she was going to be okay.

"Your vocal chords are fine, Hinata needs more confidence in her medical jutsus," the pink haired medic smiled at Tenten. Tenten nodded in agreement, then winked at Kiba while Sakura had momentarily looked away.

Kiba cocked his head to the side quizzically, wondering what she meant by the non-verbal he had just received.

After Sakura left and Tenten signed her discharge papers, she looped her arm through Kiba's and they headed out the door together.

They could start over right now, he realized as she let her head fall onto his shoulder.

They didn't have to just have the firelight.


End file.
